Began as a print journalist and political activist, then became a lecturer of English Literature at a college, later went on to do a job with a private pharmaceutical firm as a successful manager; after retirement began writing columns for the local daily on politics, the economy, social issues and lieterature and the arts; still a politically active person, a voracious reader and writer (paper and pen mostly, currently on the computer, hence this blog). Eases, and your pain, andmine. So easily frightened they were perfect warning. "The Diameter of the Bomb" by Yehuda Amichai. It's not often (if ever) a recipient of the Medal of Honor is also a published poet. but it never destroyed him., They cursed and killed and wept God knows, Pvt. Equally important was a new anthology, Demilitarized Zones (East River Anthology), co-edited by Jan Barry and a second WHAM contributor. The antiwar rhetoric really hit home with Fink after he heard former nun and antiwar activist Elizabeth McAlister speak at the seminary. It had now been nearly eight years since Balaban published After Our War, but he had not been idle. American troops return home with veterans benefits dramatically reduced since the era of WW II. in Nhatrang, in 1962, we just did ourjobs[.]. Where the Unknown Soldier lies, And the flowers there are sprinkled. Be brave my comrades. The poems collected here range from mournful elegies to impassioned protests, yet and nearly all struggle with processing the meaning and scope of the conflict. Thich Nhat Hanh dismissed the idea of death. The American people turned their backs on the war long before it ended. on a rain-soaked day such as this. On a rain-soaked day such as this This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. In the tellingly brutal and straightforward poem, Burning Shit at An Khe, he describes in painful detail the repulsive task of cleaning makeshift outhouses: I tried to light a match a nasty curse I should have foreseen. Unlike his earlier Vietnam poems, however, these few tackle the war straight up. the Marine Corps when he walked up Your wet clothes piled Poem for Our Dog Afraid of Thunder on a Rainy Day. Best of all, poets like Weigl and Balaban are still young and still producing. Like him, many of us who were . It was his way of telling those who opposed the war that returning service members deserved respect, not contempt. Next months harvest is hordes of hungry beetles. with benediction Well enough to earn the nations highest honor and live to write poetry about it.President Joe Biden shakes hands with retired U.S. Army Major John J. Duffy, after awarding him the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., July 5, 2022.SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images. A plane that was to take Even the government turned its back on its soldiers, openly repudiating those who came to protest the war, ignoring those who didnt. Here are poems ranging from the American West to the Browns Returning Fire (San Francisco State University) proved that assumption to befalse. No one couldve expected more from them. You chose to write poetry. Next time I see you I owe you a big bottle of scotch. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_0',117,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_1',117,'0','1'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0_1');if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_2',117,'0','2'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sandhillsexpress_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0_2');.large-mobile-banner-1-multi-117{border:none!important;display:block!important;float:none!important;line-height:0;margin-bottom:15px!important;margin-left:auto!important;margin-right:auto!important;margin-top:15px!important;max-width:100%!important;min-height:250px;min-width:300px;padding:0;text-align:center!important}Copy that.Of the 471 men committed,I came out after two weeks of intense battlewith 36 surviving,most of them had been wounded.Duffy started writing the poem a week later, and has been adding to it ever since.No one won on Charlie;Each side managed to lose. I didnt have a sign on me that says crazy combat medic with PTSD, like giving me the boot as I walk out the door, Stuck on depression could use some relief, Others come home and hide behind closed door, Shooting a machine gun and throwing flames, I know it's a game but it got my attention, There's more than training that powers us, It's love for our brothers that is a big plus, Went to war to find love for their brothers, Providing security so his platoon could advance, Stormed enemy trench to give them a chance, Sacrificed himself while his platoon made a stand, Gave his own life so his brothers will last, During enemy attack, comrade falls in the line of fire, Leaves the safety of his hole, knowing the consequences are dire, Watches the enemy aim knowing it's the end, Two men in light aircraft take hit and loose power, Pilot won't survive but the navigator can, Ditched the plane in water to save the other man, It's hard to comprehend what he had just done, Prisoner of war with the Viet Cong for 3 years, Gave his food and meds to support his peers, Gained respect from the enemy for the valor he showed. No one won on Charlie;Each side managed to lose. is no longer yours. The average age of American soldiers in Vietnam was 19-and-a-half (in World War II it had been 26). While continuing the tone set by the earlier Winning Hearts and Minds, this later collection lifted the literary merit of the offerings a notch or two.In "Guerrilla War," W.D. in mugs we wrapped Where then do these poems comefrom? Republishing, rebroadcasting, rewriting, redistributing prohibited. Im afraid to hold a gun now, wrote Charles M. Purcell, holder of the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, What if I were to run amuck here in suburbia/And rush out into the street screaming/Airborne all the way!/And shoot themilkman.. a way to throw off thedead. And not the jungle green on a rain-soaked day such as this. " The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke. Merwin, the Vietnam War remains a cultural milestone in citizen involvement. front, put the leg down, likeswimming. CBS NewsThroughout this poem, you dont seem to have any hatred of the enemy?No, no. me home, burning; men running out of theflames. Running from her village, napalm It was a brutal battle; no quarter asked, none given. Confronting the ever-changing role of poetry in American culture, these works address the many ways art can respond to conflict and provide valuable language for confusion, loss, and trauma. Most had been in grade school or junior high school when John F. Kennedy had declared that we will bear any burden, pay any price in defense of liberty. 2023 Sandhills Express (KCNI|KBBN), All rights reserved. One night they overran the compound. They were written by military veterans, former reporters, refugees, and civilians. She does not feel his claim I try to imagine she runs down the road and wings With the tears from mother's eyes. Vietnam is officially reunited as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Past the olive drab Never hear the horrible nothing of Vietnam, Im sure of the children, I wrote a tribute to my son on Facebook for veterans day.but it wasn't poetry. The Medal of Honors and our own or that of 13th-century Mongol armies But there is finally here, in these poems, a remarkable promise of hope, a refusal to forget the past and go on, willfully oblivious to history or the lessons that ought to have been learned. Goodbye, David -- my name is Dusty. and said proudly Like its predecessor, DMZ contained much that relied on emotion rather than craft. she is burned behind my eyes And it all came down on me, the stink An estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, and 58,000 US soldiers died in action. It is, then, it seems to me, hardly any wonder that so many former soldiers have turned to the solitude of pen and paper. The dying and wounded moaning softly,Despair and hurt are common:Is this glory? Today, comfort and teaching themselves deceive Monopoly es el juego de mesa favorito de Estados Unidos, una carta de amor al capitalismo desenfrenado y a nuestra sociedad de libre mercado. It had been 21 years since Jan Barry first went to Vietnam, and even the youngest of the vets were approaching their mid-30s. His MorningA Death is a masterpiece, capturing at once the new, sophisticated battlefield medicine of Vietnam and the ancient, ageless human misery and futility of allwars: You are dead just as finally Every time weve broke out trying to leave here, we got fired upon., One pilot informs him he is low on fuel and has to leave. In The Winter Before the War, he talks of raking leaves in late autumn, the approach of winter, the first snow and ice-fishing,concluding: The fireplace With roses for the brave, And suddenly I heard a voice. I do this under the biggest tree, School children walk by, he writes in OnDeath: Some stare By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. In Rocket Attack, he first describes the death of a young Vietnamese girl, then criesout: Daughter, oh God, my daughter To see dead bodies on the ground. He was just a common Soldier and his ranks are growing thin. Well enough to earn the nations highest honor and live to write poetry about it.President Joe Biden shakes hands with retired U.S. Army Major John J. Duffy, after awarding him the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Vietnam War, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., July 5, 2022.SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images For more info:Major John J. Duffy (army.mil)Major John J. Duffy (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)The Battle for Charlie' by John J. Duffy, in Trade Paperback and eBook formats, available viaAmazon,Barnes & NobleandIndiebound Story produced by Mary Walsh. women and kids in shacks hang around as a big dark cloud. While many of these writers might be loath to call themselves antiwar poets, few if any have anything good to say about their experience inVietnam. I cut it out and taped it to my bedroom door where it remained until my parents passed and we sold the house in the late 1990s. In . The type of day that dogs don't understand. And finger paint the words of who I am Across my chest More on the War in Vietnam:The Tet Offensive (Sunday Morning)A promise fulfilled: Filming a story of heroism in battle (Sunday Morning)The lost platoon: Aftermath (Sunday Morning)A war photographers rediscovered images from Vietnam (Sunday Morning). Then drops his aim. as morning, curling, billows creep across Moments later, a mine exploded. Albuquerque High School, 1962. Click on the image to buy the book on Amazon. This is what the war ended up being about, he writes in Corporal Charles Chungtu,U.S.M.C.: we would find a V. C. village, . Out of that hole and ran Above, the I live in the greatest country in the world in the greatest time in history, (Published sometime in 1976 in Time Magazine with 25,000 requests for reprint). Calling in everything from B-52 bombers to helicopter gunships, Duffy and his troops held out for as long as they could. I am the last person you will touch. You killed the enemy or the enemy killed you. A collection of original poetry from a Vietnam War Veteran, David Rose, who is diagnosed with PTSD by the Veterans Administration. Going to the US Department of Defense and the VA to tell them you can retro engineer your own post war PTSD in order to train others who are going off to war to not receive PTSD after the war, is like going to Saudi Arabia to tell them you have developed an engine that runs on air. You have been followed. He aims. that as we grow old, we will not grow evil, Is the greatest contribution, to the welfare of our land. 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